Members of NSGEU Local 70 began their strike Tuesday morning carrying signs and waving at passing motorists as they marched along Bristol Avenue.

The union is bargaining with the South Shore Regional Centre for Education to ensure every member of the union is being paid the same for doing the same work no matter where they work in Nova Scotia. Workers on the picket line were appreciative of drivers who honked as they passed.

One worker, who asked QCCR not to be identified, said despite the support, the line is the last place anyone wanted to be.

“We were all wishing we were at work, for sure. I work with pre-primary, and I was certainly missing the kids and we saw some of them go by. Definitely, wishing we were at work, for sure, but feeling that it was time to take a stand.”

The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union represents the 130 workers who walked off the job Tuesday.

NSGEU officials want the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to ensure if a worker does a job in South Shore, they’re paid the same as anywhere else in the province.

It appears government has no intention of intervening in the negotiation process between the workers’ union and their employer, the regional centre for education.

In an email, Government of Nova Scotia spokesperson, Andrew Preeper wrote:

“The NSGEU and its members have identified wage parity across regional centres for education as a key priority. The employer proposed a way to achieve wage parity, including wage increases as well as a process to review positions to ensure compensation fairness and parity. The exact mechanism to achieve this would be discussed at the bargaining table. We respect the parties and the bargaining process and believe discussions with labour unions should happen at the bargaining table, not in public.

Our ongoing hope is that employers can reach an agreement with their locals through the collective bargaining process.”

The worker on the picket line says they will settle for nothing less than equal pay with their counterparts across the province. They warn these walkouts could be the first of many that will involve other school staff.

“We hear rumblings that the bus drivers are next, and the TAs in the South Shore will be in the new year. Because, down here, that the teaching assistants aren’t part of this union, but same issues is [sic] wage parity.”

In addition to the walk outs, NSGEU is taking their strike action online and asking people to fill out messages of support from their website and Facebook page.

Currently union locals in the Annapolis Valley and South Shore regions are on strike.

They could soon be joined by Local 74 in Tri-Counties who rejected their latest contract offer by 98 percent.

The NSGEU and local representatives have decided to hold off on that strike action until they see if an updated offer is coming from the employer in the next week.

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